"..."
Ihei Byakuya immediately felt speechless.
He originally thought that as long as Fura Taishi didn't bother him, everything would be fine, and yet because of something this trivial...
It seemed that no matter what Fura Taishi would become in the future, at least the current him was just a delinquent teenager.
"You brat, the rest of the bread is ours."
At this moment, the girl among them stepped forward as well, her tone carrying the typical bratty flavor of a little delinquent girl.
This delinquent girl was Sasada Aki, or more accurately, her name at this point should be Sasada Aki.
And why Ihei Byakuya's first thought was the name Sasada Aki was because in the future, Sasada Aki would become Fura Taishi's wife.
In Japan, women commonly take their husband's surname after marriage, so her surname would change.
But right now, Sasada Aki was not yet the gentle and kind wife she would become, she was a little delinquent girl...
Sasada Aki had her hair dyed a reddish-orange. Despite being in school, she wore shorts that barely reached her knees and a pair of slippers. She was also one of the delinquent trio.
One must understand that Japan is a place extremely particular, even obsessive, about "proper attire". For example, office workers, regardless of season, regardless of heat, must wear suits as if they were steaming in a sauna.
For students, it wasn't quite that extreme, but they certainly couldn't just wear anything they wanted.
By contrast, the three of Fura Taishi, in their refreshing outfits of short sleeves, shorts, and slippers, looked completely out of place at school.
Ihei Byakuya couldn't be bothered with them. Without saying a word, he took the bread he wanted.
He even took two, because he had originally planned to eat two breads to feel full.
Seeing only one bread left in the basket, Fura Taishi and the other two were immediately angered. They felt he was clearly looking down on them.
"You bastard, are you ignoring us?"
The third one was a delinquent boy with a gaudy patterned face mask and a black spiky hairstyle. He grabbed Ihei Byakuya by the collar as if he was about to teach him a lesson with his fists in the next second.
"Let go..."
Byakuya's expression remained unchanged, his voice low and cold.
This guy wasn't afraid?
The spiky-haired delinquent was stunned. It was the first time he'd seen someone this strange. Was the guy an idiot?
"Stop it right now!"
Just as the spiky-haired boy hesitated, a girl's voice came from behind him.
"Who?"
He turned around and saw a girl he didn't recognize, though she was very pretty...
"Minami-san? Why are you..."
Fura Taishi spoke up in surprise.
Yes, the newcomer was Uruka Minami.
She had passed by coincidentally and witnessed Byakuya being bullied by the delinquents.
"Huh? She's the girl who's in the same class as me and Taishi..."
Sasada Aki also recognized Uruka Minami.
After all, she and Fura Taishi were in the same class as Uruka Minami.
But she didn't have much of an impression of her, because Uruka Minami had only transferred in this semester, and the delinquent trio skipped class almost every day to hang out, barely interacting with classmates.
"Hey, even if you're in our class, if you dare stick your nose where it doesn't belong, we'll beat you up too, got it?"
Sasada Aki warned Uruka Minami.
Uruka Minami looked worried, but she wasn't scared by Sasada Aki's threat. Instead, she walked forward bravely.
"..."
At this moment, Fura Taishi's brain completely froze.
He should have acted just as fiercely as his companions, but the person who appeared in front of him was that girl.
He wanted to stop his companions, yet he was afraid they would look down on him for it...
So he froze completely, not knowing what to do for a moment.
"Ihei-san, you don't need to be afraid either. I'll take you to the teacher."
Uruka Minami walked up to Byakuya and directly grabbed his hand to lead him away.
"..."
This scene made Ihei Byakuya feel slightly surprised.
"Stop right there!"
Naturally, the spiky-haired boy was not pleased.
He stepped forward, ready to drag back the brat who dared disrespect them.
"Ryou."
At that moment, Fura Taishi called out to the spiky-haired boy.
The spiky-haired boy, called Ryou, was stunned. Confused, he looked back at Fura Taishi. "Taishi, what's up with you?"
"Forget it... just forget what happened just now..."
Fura Taishi couldn't say the real reason in front of Ryou and Aki, so he could only brush it off.
"Hah? Taishi, what's wrong with you? This isn't like you at all."
Ryou looked even more baffled.
"Let's go. Worst case, we'll just buy food outside the school. I'm already starving."
Fura Taishi could only change the subject. Once he said that, he turned around and left.
"Wait up!"
With no other choice, Ryou and Sasada Aki had to let the boy from earlier go for now and chase after Fura Taishi before he walked too far.
Sasada Aki quickened her steps and walked beside Fura Taishi, asking with obvious concern, "Taishi, you really have been weird lately. What exactly happened?"
"Nothing happened..."
Fura Taishi replied.
"You're lying! I've already noticed— recently you actually started attending class like a normal student. Before, you always ditched school with us."
Sasada Aki added, "And today too— as soon as that girl from our class showed up, you suddenly acted like a different person."
"..."
Faced with Sasada Aki's questioning, Fura Taishi didn't know how to respond.
"You aren't possibly... into that girl, right..."
Sasada Aki seemed to have caught on. Her expression grew more intense, as if she were about to get jealous.
"Ahhhh—"
Fura Taishi grabbed his hair in frustration. "What are you two imagining? I just think maybe it's time to take things a little more seriously. I can't spend my whole life messing around like this, right?"
"You really have changed, Taishi. But that's normal too, after all, back then you also suddenly started ditching school with us. Did you pick that thing up again?"
Ryou muttered something vague, the kind of thing only the three of them would understand.
Fura Taishi's expression changed slightly, his mood sinking even further. "Forget that. If I gave up, then I gave up."
"Then just keep hanging out with us. You're super boring like this. We used to always stay together, the three of us..."
Sasada Aki said.
"Ahh, we'll talk later. I need to fill my stomach first."
Fura Taishi changed the subject again.
He was in a very foul mood right now.
The moment he thought about that new transfer student being pulled along by Uruka Minami, he felt deeply irritated...